Bulldog/Rubberlip Pleco

[NewLuv4Fish]

Anyone have one of these that is too shy to come out of hiding? And if it does come out of hiding it jolts crazy fast trying to get away from you if it sees you? I'm wondering if its eating when I don't see it...probably so I guess..I hope.

[jpappy789]

How long have you had it? If it's new, than it's probably just a little stressed from the new environment and still needs time to adjust.

[NewLuv4Fish]

Yeah its new

[jpappy789]

I'd let it settle down for a few days at least. If it's not eating by then, you may have some problems. What are you feeding him?

Btw, most plecos are pretty much "hiders", at least in my experience.

So, basically don't panic :)

[Aaron89]

Anyone have one of these that is too shy to come out of hiding? And if it does come out of hiding it jolts crazy fast trying to get away from you if it sees you? I'm wondering if its eating when I don't see it...probably so I guess..I hope.

i had two of them, both started off really shy then one started to venture around more and then found the cucumber and began to eat that.

unfortunatly one died and the venturous one became more venterous but its still semi hard to see as its small compared to my tank

[Weezer]

I'd let it settle down for a few days at least. If it's not eating by then, you may have some problems. What are you feeding him?

Btw, most plecos are pretty much "hiders", at least in my experience.

So, basically don't panic :)
Since you mentioned pleco's, as soon as i plopped in our BN's they went right to work,... as posted give it a couple of days ..........:)

[jpappy789]

Since you mentioned pleco's, as soon as i plopped in our BN's they went right to work,... as posted give it a couple of days ..........:)

My bn was very shy. Of course this was a while ago, and I didn't provide him nearly as much cover as I should have. He mostly hung out behind a rock...

[kooter]

I have a rubberlip, he/she? is great but I still only see him very rarely and I've had him for almost 2 years now. He eats obviously and is growing but I have lots of hiding places that he loves and stays there during the day, at night he comes out and cleans up.

[NewLuv4Fish]

He eats obviously and is growing but I have lots of hiding places that he loves and stays there during the day, at night he comes out and cleans up.

Maybe I should turn out the lights earlier than usual to give it more time to venture out.

[jm1212]

my rubberlip pleco hid alot of the time. he would come out of his cave after i sat down and stayed put for a while. he was always out and about after the tank lights were off though, and got a bit territorial around the algea wafers i put in the tank for him.

[phaedraeos]

mine have always been shy as well, but i've found that if i have a few of them they're more likely to come out and chase each other around for prime rock spots. i have 3 at the moment and i tend to see each about once a day. i don't think they'll ever be as bold as some of my other plecs though.

[Swayde]

I had a rubberlip pleco for about a month. He was very active and I could almost alwys find him. He was very entertaining. Unfortunately he did die and I have very little idea why. 0 ammonia/nitrites and <20 nitrates. A consistent temperature of 81F. I do partial water changes pretty much weekly and all of my other fish are fine and I saw no signs of any trauma when I took the dead body out. I assume he must have starved because I never saw him leave the glass to eat any of the cucumbers, algae tabs or shrimp pellets I put in to supplement his diet.